Transits at Aurora

Here is the post I promised on the transits in effect at the time of the Aurora shootings, and how they interacted with the natal planetary placements of the shooter. (In deference to the victims’ requests, I will endeavor not to use his name in this post.) I have both charts posted here, as downloadable pdfs, and my first post, which looks at the shooter’s natal placements, is here. As a reminder, we do not have a birth time for this man, so we do not know his Ascendant, Midheaven, house rulerships or the exact degree of his Moon. I am assuming a birth probably somewhere between, say, very early morning and early afternoon, which would keep his Moon in Virgo square to the Sun and Sagittarian stellium.

As I noted in my update for last week:

“This is a big invitation to changes (cue David Bowie), and with Mars involved, we are likely to see aggressive, “take-no-prisoners” behavior, short tempers, and egos in full bloom, particularly from or directed at those with personal planets in the early-middle degrees of Cardinal signs.”

At the time of the shootings, Mars, while separating, was still in tight square and opposition aspects to Pluto and Uranus, which, as you know if you’ve been following this blog, are squaring each other repeatedly over the next two and a half years or so. The trigger of Mars creating a T-square (an opposition between two planets both square another) with the Pluto-Uranus square is a textbook aspect for sudden, surprising, violent death. There is no room for compromise in this planetary combination. The T-square was right on the natal Neptune of the shooter, which, as I explained in my first post, is a planet of fantasy and delusion. In the shooter’s natal chart, because there is no Ptolemaic aspect to another planet, Neptune will tend to dominate the chart in the way that a horse with the bit in its teeth dominates its rider.

One point I neglected to make about the man’s chart in my original post, is that Mars and Pluto are the final dispositors of his natal chart. Both are in the sign they rule (Mars is the classical ruler of Scorpio, Pluto the modern ruler), giving these already powerful and powerfully-configured planets yet another boost of energy. At the time of the shooting, the transiting Moon and Mercury were conjunct in Leo, tightly squaring — and so triggering — the shooter’s Mars-Pluto conjunction.

At the moment it all began, when he walked into the theater, 19 degrees of Capricorn was on the Midheaven over Aurora, which exactly conjuncted the shooter’s natal Venus, and squared his natal Jupiter. The Midheaven brings everything to public awareness — it is the most “visible” point in the chart.

While it is instructive to study event charts, it is also important to remember that astrology cannot predict specific events like this with any precision, though in hindsight we can see how well the symbolism fits. We will be dealing with the Uranus-Pluto square through the spring of 2015, and in that time, Mars will travel around the Zodiac approximately one and a half times, and so trigger this aspect repeatedly. There will be plenty of violent, fanatical behavior, but we should always keep in mind that the energy of these aspects can also be used as a call to constructive action. Break the control of destructive, monolithic organizations that work against the benefit of the collective. (The NRA comes to mind -- though a recent poll found that many gun owners, even NRA members, support some restrictions.) Create new and innovative ways of dealing with the needs of government and business that first considers the needs of the people. Stand up for yourself and others, and don’t settle for superficial answers.

If you have any questions about this post, please feel free to ask them in the comments section.

Diotima Mantineia began studying astrology in 1968, taking classes from Zoltan Mason in New York City. For the next 22 years, she practiced astrology only for herself and her friends, continuing her studies while watching an increasingly humanistic, psychologically oriented, modern astrology blossom through the work of leading astrologers such as Noel Tyl, Liz Greene, Rob Hand, Marion March, Stephen Arroyo and Howard Sasportas. In 1986, Diotima began her study of Wicca and started reading Tarot, discovering that she is a gifted intuitive. In 1991, she began practicing both astrology and Tarot professionally. She majored in plant and soil science both in college and grad school, and grows much of her own food and "materia magica" on her land in the mountains of western North Carolina. Diotima’s personal spiritual path is rooted in the Western mystery traditions, the principles of Yoga, and a profound connection with the natural world. Wicca gives structure to her spiritual journey, and she utilizes shamanic practices for healing and to live in harmony with Nature. Over 15 years of studying Chinese martial arts has given her a deep appreciation of Taoist thought which has strongly influenced her magical and personal philosophy. You can find her at www.uraniaswell.com